Barry Hartstein, ILR '73

Barry Hartstein, ILR '73

Barry Hartstein has earned a national reputation for a career that includes more than 35 years of counseling and representing employers in a broad range of labor and employment matters. He serves as co-chair of Littler’s EEO & diversity practice group. He is a frequent writer, commentator, and lecturer on workplace issues. He also has extensive experience as a litigator and has defended employers nationwide in individual and class action claims. He has particular expertise dealing with the EEOC on both a local and national level, which has included being invited by the chair of the EEOC to address the commission on EEO-related issues on behalf of the employer bar.

Barry serves in numerous leadership roles at Cornell University. He is one of the vice chairs of the Cornell University Council, which recognizes Cornell alumni who have demonstrated strong leadership and service to the community, their profession and to Cornell. Additionally, Barry is on the advisory board of the Cornell Institute for Hospitality Labor and Employment Relations. Barry also has served in numerous leadership roles at the Cornell ILR School. In addition to previously serving on the Dean's advisory council and president of the alumni association, he currently serves on the board of the ILR School’s Scheinman Institute, which is the first institute exclusively focused on the study and practice of workplace dispute resolution.

Barry has served for many years in a national leadership role for the American Bar Association in its section devoted to labor and employment law focusing on EEO issues, including previously serving as management co-chair of the Equal Employment Opportunity Committee. In this role, he has worked closely with various chairs and other members of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, aside from serving as a liaison between the Chicago bar and the EEOC’s Chicago district office, facilitating communication between members of the bar and the EEOC on both a local and national level.

Prior to joining Littler, Barry was the managing partner of the Chicago office of a major AM Law 100 Firm, where he also served as Chicago practice leader for the firm's labor and employment practice.